The last time they:- Fought the black wraith and "liberated" him of the Blood Lantern, an evil relic that had been thrusted into his heart (a lantern with a spear-tip designed to draw blood from the lanterns host).

This session:- Deliver reward for the liberation of the lantern. - Remember to foreshadow the employer's evil intentions, and his future return as an antagonist- Do a straight forward combat mission. The kids love that.

Mission info:- It all starts at "The Black Stag", a rowdy tavern sporting a pit fight arena and multi-tasking wenches that deliver both ale and other pleasures... errr.. .wait... kids.... Scratch that. The wenches definitely only serve... eh, milk.- After having eaten some, perhaps fought a few rounds in the pit, and so on, a certain "Captain Sendar" enters the tavern and starts recruiting patrons. His voice is deep barytone, and he promises gold and glory to whoever wants to enlist in the mercenary company "Sandar's Scoundrels". "We have a wealthy patron that needs our services!", he states. "Whoever joins us will partake of his fat wallet, we only need to bash a few skulls to get there!"- The mission turns out to be a nighttime raid on the river island temple of the death god- The goal of the raid is to liberate the temple of the Ustarch Rod, another holy relic- At completion of the quest, the PCs (standing back in the crowd) will recognize the employer as the same as the one hiring them to retrieve the blood lantern. - As Captain Sendar asks for the reward, a flesh golem-ish creature (perhaps partially made of an old ally of the PCs) appears, walking like a hunchback, with the blood lantern thrust into the lump on his back. He wields two two handed swords, and starts slaying at will, butchering the mercenaries without effort. Let the PCs have at him, but let them somehow escape with their lives intact.- End of evening

Ancient Gamer:
Cinematic Sequences to send the kids' minds spinning:- The small sailboats with dark sails, loaded with silent mercs, slicing through the oily black water surface of the river (the water is reflecting only the thin sliver of a moon, and the oil lanterns of the Death Temple)- The three bald, crimson robed death dancers, holy warriors dedicated to the God of Death, gracefully arcing their scythes through scores of mercenaries, splashes and droplets of blood splattering against marble.- The Dragon Door to the Death Sanctum, guarded by an old man that does not fight well, but who sobs as he pleads the PCs not to enter. Within sits three bald death priests in deep trance, only the whites of their eyes showing. They form a triangle around an opened tome, and a faint whispering can be heard in the room. Drawn outside the book and priests is a large circle, and anyone who passes this circle interrupts the ritual, and causes the Necrae Tome to unleash its defences. The first to die are the three priests, shredded to bits by some unseen demonic force. Next is the one stepping past the chalk circle, as his body is forcibly hurled through the room and into the wall. Then a skeletal warrior materialize, quickly followed by two more.

Chaosmark:
How did this one end up going? Sounds suitably epic.

Ancient Gamer:
They absolutely love it.

They have the fire in their eyes. You know, that first roleplaying gleam, that unbridled enthusiasm, that is so utterly lost in the eyes of the jaded ones.

It makes me love being a GM.

It makes me wanna shine even more.

Mourngrymn:
I recently ran a test game with my son and brother in law and they have hounded me relentlessly to do it again. Even said they would watch the kids to let me prepare for a session with them. I miss those days of unbridled enthusiasm and eagerness to play.